Dr. Jody Paul – Education – MSCD Courses Software Development Management

Course Information

Course Description (from MSCD Catalog)

This course provides students with exposure to a broad set of principles and practices affecting the success and failure of software development efforts and productivity of teams involved in such efforts. The role and tasks of the software development manager are explored in detail.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to: Demonstrate knowledge of basic issues, principles and practices in software development management Produce and evaluate software development management artifacts Identify stakeholders and facilitate meetings for a software development team Assess and critique software engineering project plans (e.g., using structured walkthroughs) Support organizing and staffing software engineering projects Track and evaluate software development progress

Resources

Texts:
	The Deadline      (Amazon) by Tom DeMarco Dorset House (1997) ISBN 0-932633-39-0 REQUIRED
	The Mythical Man Month (Anniversary Edition)      (Amazon) by Frederick R. Brooks Addison-Wesley (1995) ISBN 0-201-1835-959 REQUIRED
	Roundtable on Technical Leadership      (Amazon) by Gerald M. Weinberg, et al. Dorset House (2002) ISBN 093263351X REQUIRED
Participants also need one of the following two books; choice up to the individual.
	Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams (2nd Edition)      (Amazon) by Tom DeMarco and Tim Lister Dorset House (1999) ISBN 0-932633-43-9 Waltzing With Bears : Managing Risk on Software Projects      (Amazon) by Tom DeMarco and Tim Lister Dorset House (2003) ISBN 0-932633-60-9
Articles, Technical Reports, Journals & Conference Proceedings
	Sample publications include:     IEEE Software     IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering     Communications of the ACM     IEEE Computer     ACM SigSoft Software Engineering Notes

Grading Policy

Students are expected to prepare for class sessions (reading, preparatory exercises, etc.), to participate in class discussions and in-class exercises, and to make several in-class presentations. Participation in class discussions and exercises is mandatory. The final course grade is determined by combining scores on exercises, presentations, assignments, and projects. The grade assigned will be no lower than that given by the following conversion of score (percentage of total possible) to letter grade: 100-90%: A;  89-80%: B;  79-70%: C;  69-60%: D;  59-0%: F A substantial amount of information will be disseminated during class sessions or on course websites that you will be responsible for knowing whether or not you attended the sessions or accessed the websites. Note in particular that the textbooks and references do not provide all of the information necessary to successfully complete the course requirements. Every assignment and project turned in must include a section labeled "Reflection" that includes your personal insights and observations. This reflection is required, whether or not the assignment specification mentions it explicitly. Late assignments will not earn course credit. You may submit an assignment after its due date for comments and advice, and you are encouraged to do so. However, the score for that assignment will be recorded officially as 0. Likewise, missing an in-class exercise will result in a score of 0 for that exercise. Specifically, late homework and make-up exercises will not be accommodated without prior arrangement and written agreement. Unforeseeable crises and emergency situations will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis in accordance with MSCD, College, and Departmental policies. Formats of documentation files turned in for assignments must not depend on specific operating systems or software that requires purchase or paid licensing. The following are examples of acceptable formats: ASCII text, UNICODE text, HTML, RTF, PDF, GIF, JPEG. The following are examples of unacceptable formats: Microsoft Word, AppleWorks, PowerPoint. If the assignment consists of multiple files, bundle them into an archive in tar, gz, zip or sit format. Collaboration Collaboration is encouraged and regarded as essential aspect of learning, education, Computer Science and Software Engineering. Collaboration and discussion with fellow students concerning course information, materials, assignments, projects, proofreading and concept exploration is strongly encouraged. You are not expected to learn the course content or work on assignments and projects in isolation on your own. Most project work in this course will be collaborative in nature. However, assignments that are used for individual assessment must be written up on your own, reflecting your individual effort, even if the solution is the result of a collaborative effort. In your write-up, you must credit the people with whom you worked. You must write and turn in a personal reflection for every collaborative as well as individual effort. If you consult any sources, please note in your document the materials that you used. Turning in work that is the result of unauthorized collaboration or includes uncited quotations or references will be treated as academic dishonesty and an attempt at fraud. All incidents of suspected dishonesty will be reported to the department and the Dean of the college. Consequences may include a grade of 0 on the assignment, a grade of "F" for the course, academic probation, or dismissal from the institution. This is a very serious matter and should not be taken lightly. If you have any uncertainty or concerns, please discuss them with your instructor or advisor.

Official Announcements

Official policies applicable to all courses: http://cs.mscd.edu/metadot/index.pl?iid=2249

Also see the MSCD College Catalog at http://www.mscd.edu/academic/catalog/ for official announcements, including Academic Policies and Procedures and Student Rights and Responsibilities, and the Academic Calendar at http://www.mscd.edu/academic/acal.htm for additional official dates and deadlines, including the last dates to withdraw and receive NC (with and without faculty signatures).

©2002, 2004, 2006 Dr. Jody Paul – All Rights Reserved